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What was Churchill and the Queen’s relationship like?

As the young Elizabeth takes to the throne in The Crown, her relationship with Churchill is frosty.

The pair grow to trust one another as the monarch gets used to her new position with the help of her Prime Minister.

At the end of the series, the Queen pays tribute to Churchill at a dinner to mark his resignation and the appointment of Sir Anthony Eden as his replacement.

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The Queen paid tribute to Churchill after he retired in The Crown

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In real life, the Queen attended a dinner at Downing Street

She says: “My confidence in Sir Anthony is complete, but it would be useless to pretend that either he or any of his successors will ever be able to hold the place of my first Prime Minister.”

In real life, the Queen wrote near-identical words in a letter to Churchill following his departure from No 10. The monarch and the Prime Minister are said to have enjoyed a close and friendly relationship with a shared love of horse racing.

The Crown: Netflix's new royal drama

Wed, October 5, 2016

Netflix's new royal drama stars Claire Foy as the young monarch and Matt Smith as Prince Philip. The 10-part series focusses on the first days of Elizabeth's reign as Queen as well as her struggle to maintain her marriage.

Winston Churchill in pictures

Winston Churchill died in January 24, 1965

Sir Winston Churchill shows the peace sign while smoking a cigar in 1954

Did Churchill really burn the Sutherland painting?

In episode nine, the Houses of Parliament commission a portrait by British modernist Graham Sutherland to present to Churchill on as an 80th birthday gift.

The beleaguered Prime Minister sits for several sessions with the artist and implores Sutherland to paint a flattering portrait representative of “the Prime Minister and everything that great office represents”.

After the two men bond over the loss of their children, Churchill unveils the portrait at Westminster Abbey. He is shocked by the frail depiction of himself and sarcastically declares it “a remarkable example of modern art”.

The octogenarian tells Sutherland that he will not accept the unflattering painting, which he labels a “betrayal of friendship and an unpatriotic cowardly assault by the individualistic left”.

The episode is mostly based on real events. In 1954, Churchill unveiled the portrait in Westminster Abbey using the exact same words uttered in the show.

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Churchill rejected the painting by Graham Sutherland

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Churchill called the painting 'a remarkable example of modern art'

In The Crown, Churchill's wife Clementine burned the offending artwork in the couple's garden.

In real life, Clementine originally claimed to have set fire to the massive painting herself. But while writing a biography of the Prime Minister’s wife, Sonia Purell discovered that she had asked secretary Grace Hamblin to do the dirty work for her.

Grace enlisted her “burly” brother to help her sneak the painting out of the Churchills' cellar in the dead of night and burned it on a bonfire several miles away.

The painting was supposed to hang in Westminster Abbey after Churchill’s death.

Sutherland called the Churchills’ actions “without question an act of vandalism” and the portrait has been described as a “lost masterpiece”.

Sketches from Sutherland’s sessions with Churchill are on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.